Rosetta Data Reveals More Surprises about Comet 67P (IMAGE)

Southwest Research Institute

Rosetta Data Reveals More Surprises about Comet 67P

Caption

Rosetta scientists measuring the composition of comet 67P's atmosphere or coma discovered that it varies greatly over time. Large fluctuations in composition in a heterogeneous coma indicate day-night and possibly seasonal variations in the major outgassing species: H2O, CO, and CO2. The red region where CO and CO2 dominate is a part of the comet that is poorly illuminated, indicating a complex coma-nucleus relationship where seasonal variations may be driven by temperature differences just below the comet surface.

Credit

Shape model credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

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